Pati and Beebee are spending three full days in Cairo. The first two days they are going on excursions arranged by Orbital Travel. They have an air-conditioned car (though it is too cool already to require it), a driver who speaks almost no English, and a guide who is fluent in English (as well as German). Although his university degree is in archeology, he has been a guide for 18 years. He is married, with two children (son aged 13, daughter aged 8). He has a brother and a cousin in the U.S.; he said they "won the green-card lottery." He has never been to the U.S. himself; his children want him to take them to Disneyland. He is an excellent guide.
Each day for the tours, Pati and Beebee are picked up at their B&B, driven to each place of interest, escorted by the guide who buys the tickets, walks them to the best parts and explains them, taken to an excellent authentic Egyptian lunch (the guide and driver eat separately), and driven back to the B&B at the end of the day's activities.
On the first day of tours (Friday), Pati and Beebee were picked up at 8:30 am following an 8 am breakfast provided by the B&B. The guide climbed up to the 3rd floor to get them (80 steps); it was agreed that he would just call the hotel desk when he got there the next day and they would walk down. They visited the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities (originally named the Cairo Museum) in Cairo, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Sphinx (Khafre's head attached to the body of a lion). The three pyramids visited from the outside, in size order, were the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre (which appears larger only because it sits on higher ground), and Menkaure. Pati and Beebee also went into the Pyramid of Khafre, climbing first down a narrow passage, then up, to get to the burial chamber. The visit to the Museum included the best parts of the Museum, which is huge, but did not include the Mummy Room. Pati and Beebee plan to go back to the Museum on their own on their third day in Cairo to see more, especially the mummies.
Pati and Beebee were fortunate to visit the Museum on Friday, because that is the only day that Egyptians get off from work. That is the day that many go to the mosques, or to outdoor places to relax, or to Tahrir Square to protest. (Protests in Tahrir Square happen every Friday, each with its own pre-announced theme, because it is a very important square. There is a tent city of protesters living on the square, who apparently form the core of the protesters.) The guide took Pati and Beebee to the Museum early in the day to get that tour completed before that day's protests started. The Museum is just off Tahrir Square on the opposite side from the B&B. Pati and Beebee arrived at the museum just before opening time (9 am) and the museum was quite empty of tourists (2 or 3 other groups) for the entire visit.
As it turned out, Tahrir Square had only a small protest, with the larger protest in another square, so the return to the B&B in the afternoon after seeing the pyramids was uneventful.
On the second day of tours (Saturday), Pati and Beebee visited the Mohamed Ali Mosque, a bazaar, Memphis (the original capital about an hour south of Cairo), and Saqqara near Memphis. The Mosque could not have been visited Friday, because it was being used for religious purposes. The guide, in addition to showing the features of the Mosque, also gave an easy-to-understand description of the 5 pilars of the muslim faith, explaining how similar it is to Christianity (his faith).
The souk (open-air marketplace) was just opening, with vendors setting up their stalls. The guide arranged for one man of the group of policemen there to walk around with Pati and Beebee, to discourage their being harrassed by sellers. This man was dressed in ordinary clothes, but had a pistol in a holster tucked into the back of his waistband. Pati and Beebee walked through slowly, observing the wares being set out, and the whole process in general. They were most interested in the spices, but did not buy any, since food products would probably be confiscated in at least one of the customs checks during the rest of the trip. Pati wondered how many of the objects sold came to Egypt via China. The officer who accompanied them spoke only a few words of English; while polite, he was uncomfortable in this duty. As they were about to exit the souk, a vender called out "American housewife" and he did not mean Beebee.
The drive to Memphis and Saqqara took about an hour. Here at Saqqara were the oldest pyramids in Egypt, including the step pyramid, the bent pyramid and the red pyramid. As they approached the step pyramid, there was an abrupt change from green plantings to the Sahara desert. At Memphis, they visited a fallen partial statue of Rameses II that was so hugh and heavy that the government just built a small building around it where it lay. There is also an alabaster sphinx there, which archeologists now believe belonged to the female pharoh Hapshepsut
Pati and Beebee decided to skip a visit to a carpet workshop, and they all stopped for lunch in an interesting outdoor restaurant. The meal was called "barbecue" and the meat (chicken and beef) was cooked at the table on a personal-sized grill. There were small bowls of side items and baklava for dessert. (They were especially appreciative of this meal, because they had left the B&B at 7:45 am before breakfast was available.)
Arriving back at the B&B at 3 pm, they said goodbye to their driver and guide and were on their own again. They arranged through their B&B to be taken to (and returned from) a dinner cruise on the Lady Diana on the Nile. Their driver arrived at 6:20 (climbing up the 80 steps), advised them to take jackets for Nile-watching atop the ship, and off they went for an "exciting" 45 minute drive to the Lady Diana. While the driver had some English (and tried to communicate), he definitely said "woman driver" while passing a timid driver who had been afraid to enter the traffic fray. The cause (or effect) of her timidity was exhibited in the metal gouges down the length of the side of her car.
On arriving at the Lady Diana, Pati and Beebee were led by their driver through another ship in order to enter the Diana. The cruise meal was a delicious buffet of Egyptian food at western prices. A beer was about $6.50 which would buy a brewery in some parts of Cairo. This was followed by the entertainment as the ship cruised slowly up the Nile (south) for some distance and then back down again. The entertainers were a singer whose American English was superb when he sang English-language songs, a belly dancer who was a great hit with the Asian men there, and a sufi dancer, who wore three skirts (that lit up at appropriate times) and spun counterclockwise for at least 20 minutes with no sign of dizziness. It is impossible to describe sufi dancing adequately in words. Pati and Beebee spent about 10 minutes "up top" enjoying the view in the chilly night.
The row of tables beside Pati and Beebee's held 8 Asian men, and the next row had about 8 more Asian men and women. One man had a video camera; each of the other men had a large camera (high-end Nikon SLR's) with a huge lens, and each woman had a smaller camera. Until the belly dancer appeared, the men spent their time photographing each other and other people's cameras. Then they focussed their huge lenses on her. They also ate an amazing quantity of food.
Pati and Beebee finally got back to the B&B at 10:30 pm and collapsed into bed.
On Sunday, Pati and Beebee returned on their own to the Egyptian Museum, only a 5-minute walk alongside Tahrir Square. This time they visited the Mummy Room where the best mummies, including Rameses II, are kept. Then they walked around the rest of the Museum at leisure. Beebee's favorite exhibit is the Narmer Tablet. Before they left, they tried to buy postcards at a counter in the Museum. The clerk did not have change, so they hope to find postcards at the airport.
Leaving the Museum, they ate lunch at Cafe Riche, an authentic Egyptian restaurant with delicious food. Tonight they plan to go back to Felfela for their last dinner in Cairo. They have eaten there twice before; it is a wonderful experience.
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